FBI Director Kash Patel condemned political violence from both the left and right during questioning on Capitol Hill about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk as students returned to class at the university where he was gunned down.
Kirk, a close ally of the Trump administration and co-founder of Turning Point USA, was fatally shot on Wednesday, Sept. 10, while speaking to a crowd of thousands at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. The campus was closed for several days before reopening to faculty, staff and students in phases this week.
The suspect in the attack, Tyler Robinson, was arraigned on Sept. 16 on seven felony charges, including aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm, obstruction of justice and witness tampering. Local prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty, a decision President Donald Trump has publicly supported.
Prosecutors said Robinson's DNA was found on the trigger of the rifle discovered near the attack. Robinson also confessed to multiple people after the killing, prosecutors said, including his parents and his live-in partner.
Meanwhile, Patel appeared before the House Judiciary Committee for a second day of testimony. On Sept. 16, he defended himself and his agency from criticism from Democratic lawmakers in the Senate who seized on conflicting statements released in the immediate aftermath of Kirk's death.
